George s



G. S. PETRY.

' Car Starter.

No. 63,652. Patented Apr. 9. 1867.

FHF'TI'H AVENUE FM NJEIERS. FHOTD-LITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON D c I gotten gittitfi igutrat. g g tties.

GEORGE S. PETRY, OF TROY GROVE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND GEORGE W. SNYDER.

Letters Patent No. 63,652, dated April fl, 1867.

IMPROVED METHOD OI PROPELLING STREET CARS.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, Gnoncn S. Pi-urnr, of Troy Grove, in the county of La Salle, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Propelling Street Rail Cars, and do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of same, which will enable those skilled in the art to use and practise my invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, of which-- Figure 1 is a. side elevation, with the wheels on the nearest side removed: and

Figure 2 is a bottom view of my invention.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in the mode of propelling street rail cars and other vehicles, and the invention consists in a driving-gear wheel, which is placed between the axles of the ear, and suspended on a sliding frame in such manner as to he slid longitudinally, so as to engage alternately and at will with pinions on either of the said axles, thereby changing the direction or reversing the motion of the car when the driving-wheel is disconnected with one axle and put in connection with the opposite one, the said driving-wheel being actuated by a coiled spring; and my invention also consists in certain novel details, as hereinafter explained.

X, in the accompanying drawings, is the car body, and W W, are its wheels. Beneath the car is suspended a. sliding frame, D D, which slides longitudinally in strap guides or boxes (Z (Z. To this sliding frame D is suspended a. driving wheel, A, which is driven by a coiled spring, B, (fig. 1,) and has upon its periphery cog gearing, which is made to engage with a pinion on either of the axles, at the will of the operator.- When the driving-wheel A engages with the pinion Z-(fig. 1) it acts directly on the said pinion; but when it engages with the opposite pinion L it acts through an idle-wheel, II, the said idle-wheel II being suspended on the moving frame D, and always in gear with the drivingwheel. The driving-wheel A. is loose upon its shaft O, and the centre end of the coiled spring '13 is secured to the shaft C, while its outer end is fastened to a barrel attached to the driving-wheel. A ratchet sleeve, 0, is also-secured on the shaft O. The spring is wound'up by rocking the shaft O, which is done by means of a hand-lever, O, having a transverse throw, and communicating with the shaft O by means of elbow-lever I, (fig.2,) rod q, and cranky, (fig. 1.) The crank y has a spring pawl, f, which engages with the ratchet sleeve 0, sons the lever O is oscillated, and the crank 3/ vibrated, carrying the pawl fover the ratchet face of e, and thereby winding up the spring. The sleeve 0', or inner end of the spring, is retained during the back stroke of pawl f by a pawl, z, (fig. 1.) I

When the driving-wheel is being changed from connection with one axle to the other for the purpose of changing the motion of the car, there is a period in such transition in which the said driving-wheel is entirely disengaged with'both axle-pinions; and to prevent the driving-wheel from flying around, and allowing the tension of the spring to run down, a couple of levers or bars, Im, are provided, which have each a toothed head, is andS, which, engaging the opposite sides of the idle-wheel H, prevent the driving-wheel from rotating while being transferred from onc axle to the other. These bars, which act on the idle-wheel, may be made to actas brakes, tocheck theinoticn of the car, by acting on the driving-wheel through the said idle-wheel; and one of them may also be employed to aid in overcoming the inertia of the car in starting from asta-tc of rest. At all other times, while the car is in motion, these bars I and m are out of, connection with the idle-wheel. They are operated by hand-levers i and n, (fig. 1.) I The upper bar I]: is suspended on a pivot at j, (fig. 1.) The lower bar m. S is suspended on a. secondary bar, M, which is pivoted at its centre to a hanging stud, N, both bars being pivoted to the vertical hand-lever n, and the toothed endof 1ft sliding in a rest or guide, 2', on. the working end of M. The frame D- is made to slide in the boxes (I (Z by a vertical hand-lcver, e, which connects with the said sliding frame by means of an elbow-lever, u, (fig. 2,) and link, as shown.

Other devices maybe employed for winding up the spring, and in the use of the coiled spring and sliding driving gear. I do not confine myself to this particular method for winding or ceiling up the spring.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. I claim the driving-wheel A, coiled spring D, idle-wheel H, toothed bars I m, and sliding frame D D, in connection with the axlc-piniens ZL, all related to each other, and operating substantially as and for the purpose herein specified; and i V 2. I claim the hand-lever O, clbow-lever l, connecting-rod q, rockshaft C, and ratchet sleeve 0, with pawls e f, for giving tension to the coiled spring B, substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my signature.

GEORGE S. PETE-Y.

Witnesses:

Jenn F. COLLINQ, A. NEILL. 

